This invention relates to ski racks, and more particularly relates to ski racks adaptable for releasable attachment to the external surface of a boat whereby to facilitate storage of water skis in a safe, out-of-the-way position.
Various carriers or racks have been devised in the past which are designed to permit releasable mounting of skis on a motor vehicle, such as, an automobile trunk lid or the inner portion of a boat. Representative of such devices are those disclosed and illustrated in U.S. Pat. to Page No. 3,811,843, Carlyle U.S. Pat. No. 3,018,897, and to Sicogna U.S. Pat. No. 2,698,119. These and other patents generally suggest utilization of various types of leg supports having suction cups to facilitate releasable connection to the external surface of a motor vehicle. Additionally, provision has been made for spring-loaded mounting posts to facilitate edgewise, releasable connection or mounting of skis on the rack or mounting frame, such as, exemplified by the patent to Carlyle referred to above.
The safe, convenient storage of water skis in a boat presents particular problems as a result of their size and width and the attendant difficulties of handling the water skis as they are removed from a water skiier. The approach in the past has been either to loosely place the water skis in the bottom of the boat or to stow them on a mounting rack which can be positioned within the confines of the boat. In either case, storage of the skis has presented definite problems from the standpoint of safety since they occupy a substantial amount of space especially in boats of limited size and therefore can present a real hazard to occupants of the boat. Accordingly, there is a need for a water ski rack which can be mounted on the external surface of a boat, such as for instance, the gunwale of an open boat or the side or top of a closed bow boat; yet in such a way as to be readily accessible and to facilitate ease of ski mounting and release while avoiding any possibility of shifting or accidental displacement of the skis when the boat is in motion. At the same time it is highly desirable that the water ski rack permit compact mounting of one or more sets of water skis in an out-of-the-way position on an external surface of the boat; and that the ski rack be positively but releasably attachable to the external surface of a boat and be readily conformable for attachment to different contours or shapes.